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NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOK OF 2025
NPR BEST BOOK OF 2025
Nominated for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award
The English-language debut of one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Brazilian literature, The Tokyo Suite is a gripping exploration of the complexities of modern family dynamics and the tensions hiding just under the surface of ordinary lives.
It’s a seemingly ordinary morning when Maju, a nanny, boards a bus with Cora, the young girl she’s been caring for, and disappears. The abduction, an act as impulsive as it is extreme, sets off a series of events that will force each character to confront their deepest fears and desires.
Fernanda, Cora's mother, is a successful executive who is so engulfed in her own personal crisis that she initially fails to notice her daughter's disappearance. Her marriage is strained, and she finds solace in an affair, distancing herself further from her family. Meanwhile, her husband, overwhelmed by the complexities of their domestic life, remains emotionally detached. As Maju navigates the streets of São Paulo with Cora, the “white army” of nannies, a term coined by Fernanda, seems to watch her every move, heightening her sense of paranoia and urgency.
Madalosso’s narrative delves deep into the human psyche, examining themes of maternal guilt, societal expectations, and the search for personal identity. Rich and multi-layered, The Tokyo Suite is a poignant and gripping tale that captures the essence of modern urban life and the lengths to which people will go to reclaim a sense of control and meaning in their lives.
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE
“Tense, taut... Checking into The Tokyo Suite scratched [an] itch for stories of class struggle. Sharp and smoky, to be inhaled rather than binged, it’s a novel for the working woman, in every sense of that redundant phrase.”—Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times Book Reviews
★ “A bitter and loving, eviscerating, suspenseful, and tender psychological novel about class, gender, motherhood, and nature both within and without.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Modern, fractured, vivid... An atmospheric, idiosyncratic glimpse of contemporary female lives.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The Tokyo Suite explores what it means to search for oneself, sometimes through unsavory means, thus too examining what we are willing to put on the line to find out who we in fact are.”—Under the Radar
“Giovana Madalosso follows in the path of Rachel Cusk and Olga Tokarczuk, taking her characters to the brink with brutal honesty.”—Suplemento Pernambuco (Brazil)
“Suspenseful, compelling, and often darkly humorous... A gripping exploration of motherhood, social inequality, and personal identity.”—Bookster
“Giovana Madalosso's writing is fluid, creative, elegant, and powerful. This is a compelling story about motherhood, featuring two unforgettable protagonists navigating complex personal and societal challenges."—Mãe Literatura (Brazil)
“A gripping story about people who seem to have their lives on track but are harboring dissatisfaction, repressed desires, and fears. An impulsive act disrupts everything, bringing hidden truths to light.”—Conteúdo Raízes (Brazil)